Articles

Celebrating Farm to School month, Berkshire Botanical Garden educators have continued our partnerships with five schools this fall.

With all the weather uncertainty, let's turn our attention to the indoors. Here are Ron Kujawski's tips and tricks for this week. 

Frosted grass? Thirsty trees? Trunk-chewing rodents? Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower that should stay put? Ron Kujawski would like a few words with you.

Poking those garlic cloves into the spot reserved for them is a more leisurely business, one that is carried out amid the cooler weather and gentler sunlight that makes autumn my favorite season in the Northeast. It’s a pleasurable horticultural encore.

When I asked Karen Bussolini of White Flower Farm what advice she would give to gardeners who wanted to cultivate natives and non-natives together, she replied “Go for it.”

Have you considered sweetgum? Can you leave potatoes in the ground? What to do with perennial herbs, pumpkins and winter squash? How to reduce pest and disease problems of fruit trees? Should you mulch your roses for winter?

Efforts this week turned to readying the garden beds for the coming of frosts and winter. Liz Leonard, coordinator for the Herb Display Garden, favors a combination of “cutting back, potting up and leaving be.”

Time for a chilly wake-up call. Here are the many things you could (should) be doing this week to prepare. Also, let's give thanks for the harvest!

For too long the debate about the lawn’s place in the American landscape has had just two positions: pro or con. Let's discuss.

The best response to your garden problems is to embrace cover crops.

Why would you want perennial asters? What could you plant to improve your indoor air? What bargains can you take advantage of right now? Why take stock now in your garlic? Why remove all weeds now? Have you considered aerating? And let's talk about autumn leaves.

Gardeners tend to think of their plants as passive victims of the insects that feed on them. In fact, that's not true.

Colchicums take center stage, along with lemon thyme and Salvia Amistad. Also, Herbes de Provence and Lavender Sachets in the gift shop, plus a new variation on the Thanksgiving theme.

What veggies should you leave in the ground? What should you do with spent bean plants? When should you harvest popcorn, Indian corn and pears? What turns red in captivity? Oh, and batten down the hatches, will ya!